X-Vengers
by hvm2k2
Summary: When the Order of Dagon created the key, they back-tracked the timeline to insert Dawn. Unfortunately, this has lasting repercussions and now the Powers that Be must select new champions to guard the Hellmouth.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated Characters are property of Joss Wedon and Mutant Enemy. All Marvel and DC Characters are property of their respective comic-book companies. I literally own nothing, not even this disclaimer.

X-vengers

Prologue

Angel chased after Buffy, upset with himself for vamping-out in front of 'Lady Useless.' It was only luck that he'd run into Willow, who apparently had turned into a ghost of all things whereas Buffy had turned into a 16th century noble-woman. "Why couldn't she have dressed up as Cat Woman or something, like Xander did?" the ensouled vampire asked himself.

That was the other odd thing – Xander Harris had dressed up as Captain America and actually became the First Avenger, just like so many others had turned into their costumes. Angel didn't know or care how it happened, all he cared about was protecting Buffy.

Unfortunately it was at that moment that he spotted Spike grab Buffy and without so much as a preamble William the Bloody snapped the slayer's neck.

"No!" Angel screamed, pulling a stake and charging his grand-childe.

The pair fought it out for a while, but that was when a dark-haired woman dropped from the sky wearing gold and red armor and wielding a sword and shield straight out Greek history. She quickly decapitated Spike before turning on Angel.

"Foul demon-spawn, I'll send you back to Tartarus!" Wonder Woman cried as she swung her sword with inhuman speed. The mourning vampire had barely recognized that the Amazon was Buffy's mom before she took his head off as well.

* * *

"This is a problem. A big one," one of the robed figures said as they watched what was going on from a shimmering portal.

"The temporal backlash from the Key being turned into the Slayer's younger sister has already happened. I thought the spell wasn't supposed to affect the timeline that much?" a feminine voice demanded.

"That's the butterfly effect, Jasmine," an amused voice said as the owner entered the chambers. "Plus free-will. I know, you don't much care for it yourself – but if you want to throw someone's plans off, drop a rock in the water!"

"Janus!" the female member of the Powers-that-Be hissed. "Is this your doing?"

"Oh please!" The two-faced god protested. "My only involvement is allowing Ethan Rayne's spell to go off. Everything else is just the repercussions of the avalanche caused by the pebble thrown by the Order of Dagon. Amazing how having a younger sister threw things off so badly. Not only is the Slayer-Who-Lived dead, but so is your champion. My-my-my, what ever shall you do? And what will the fallout be? Let's take a look, shall we?"

Janus waved his hand and the images in the portal sped up, quickly showing the future – and none of it happened the way the Powers-that-Be would ever want.

"Hmmm," Janus hummed with a smirk. "Looks to me like this timeline isn't going to end well. I'm pretty sure the creator will just recycle this universe. I _may _have an idea as to how you might salvage things... _if_ you allow me a free hand."

"Speak, Janus," another of the Powers demanded.

"Easy! We select certain individuals, and let them keep the powers and skills of their costumes. That should compensate for the loss of the Slayer as well as Angel," Janus answered with a grin.

"Who did you have in mind?" he replied. Janus just grinned.

* * *

Like it? Please Leave a Review! I plan on having the next chapter up by this Weekend!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated Characters are property of Joss Wedon and Mutant Enemy. All Marvel and DC Characters are property of their respective comic-book companies. I literally own nothing, not even this disclaimer.

Chapter One

Sunnydale High Library

Saturday November 1st 1997

Xander sat in the library, his eyes bloodshot and feeling numb to the world. Not only was his best friend since kindergarten now a ghost, but Buffy was found dead by Joyce. Spike had broken Lady Useless's neck just before being killed by Joyce who was dressed as Wonder Woman. Angel had died shortly after.

Dawn was leaning on Xander, crying not only over her dead sister but also do to the changes Halloween had brought. For some reason, some of the changes caused by the creepy costume-shop owner didn't revert. Xander was now eight inches taller and had a body anyone who played sports would envy. Dawn's skin was pink and her eyes a radiant green with pointed ears and purple hair. While the youngest summers had intended to be an elf, she had somehow dressed up as Blink from the Age of Apocalypse comics.

Joyce had screamed herself hoarse at Giles, and was apparently still a full-blooded Amazon, and her hair was now black as night. She'd also de-aged a decade. Had Xander not been so emotionally raw he would have had an even bigger crush on his friend's mom. He could see Willow's shade pacing the stacks, trying not to freak out as her body had died while she was a ghost. For that reason alone Xander swore Ethan Rayne was a dead man walking.

The Scoobies weren't the only casualties of the night. Cordelia Chase, the bane of Xander and Willow's existence had rented a costume of Kitana from Mortal Kombat from Party Town, and now had the ninja-princess's physique – only time would tell if she had the skills to go with it. The only part of Cordy's costume that had come from Ethan's was a makeup pen that she'd bought at the last minute.

Next to Cordelia was Jonathon Levinson. He'd dressed up as Cable from X-Men though thankfully he didn't have half of his body replaced with cybernetics. Given that he was sitting there telekinetically playing with a quarter it was obvious he had Cables mutation.

Finally there was Warren Meers. He had dressed as Dr. Doom and if what he was saying was true, then all of Doom's knowledge had stayed with him. He seemed to be taking it poorly as Doom had done some pretty terrible things – and that was just what was shown in the comics. Xander hated to think what manner of evil Doom had gotten up to that wasn't shown.

"So what happens now?" Xander asked. "Buffy dying means another Slayer has been called. Will she be sent here?"

Giles sighed. "Yes, and I will most likely be recalled though I will try to convince the council that it would be easier to maintain my cover than it would be to replace me."

"That's not going to work for me. Ethan Rayne obviously has it out for you, so he'll be back. When that happens, I'm going to kill him. I'm going to make him pay for taking my last two friends from me," Xander spoke slowly – fighting to keep his emotions contained. Dawn just hugged him tighter, and Xander gently rubbed his hand up and down the younger teen's back.

"I agree with the sentiment, but there has to be a way to punish him without killing him – even if he has cost me one daughter, and left Dawn permanently disfigured. What am I supposed to do? I can't let Hank see her like this! Isn't there a way to change her back? Magic did this, it should be able to undo it," Joyce was almost yelling.

"It's not that easy, Mrs. Summers," Warren spoke up – his voice emotionless but calm and commanding. "Doom never messed with Chaos Magic due to it's unpredictability. This was powerful Chaos Magic and was backed by a God. There's no fixing it. There's no undo-button."

Willow wandered over, sitting on a chair and falling through it. Scrambling to her feet she sighed. "Dawn can be home-schooled, and I can tutor her."

"Or I can bind a glamour to a bracelet or necklace. Doom knew how, but his arrogance and self-pity wouldn't allow him to use it. I can have it ready in time for her to go to school Monday – I'll just need a couple of things," Warren answered as he rubbed his hand over where Doom's facial scaring would have been. "Should probably do one for you as well – you look way younger than you did on Parent-Teacher night."

Warren took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. "Actually, I think Doom's knowledge can be put to use for everyone here. I can make Xander a shield that while it won't be vibranium, will be pretty close – especially with the enchantments I'm going to stack on it. Plus I can put together a utility belt of things that should work alright against vampires."

"That sounds expensive," Xander said with a wince. "I have my road-trip fund, but I think that stuff would wipe me out."

"I can throw together some designs for stuff I can patent and sell. But it'll probably take at least six months to get the funds together to set up a workshop. I can have everyone fully equipped by next school year," Warren replied.

"I want a sword and armor," Joyce said adamantly. "I can't sit idly by while those... monsters... are out there preying on people. If you can make something for me, I can provide twenty thousand right now."

"Where are you going to get the money, mom? I know the gallery pays well but that sounds expensive," Dawn worried.

"When we found out I was pregnant, Hank put aside a rather large trust fund for your schooling," Joyce half sobbed out.

"I think she'd like her tuition money being put to good use," Willow said sadly – putting her hand through Joyce as she tried to pat the woman on the back. Joyce flinched from the icy-cold contact.

"I think we all will need armor," Jonathon said tiredly. "And Mrs. Summers, your restlessness is probably a combination of being an Amazon as well as having Princess Diane's memories."

"I am _not_ getting involved in the freak-show!" Cordelia declared adamantly as she stood and headed for the door. "So you can count me out!"

"Well I'm definitely in," Jonathon said with a nod, the coin he was struggling to levitate dropping to the table and starting to roll away before he managed to stop it.

"Your powers are going to be triggered by emotion until you can learn to control them," Willow reminded him. "At least that's how it worked in the comics."

"Does that mean I'll need training, too?" Dawn asked.

"All of us will," Xander said as he tiredly rubbed his face. "I need to get the hang of Cap's fighting style – especially if I'm going to be using a shield. Joyce will need to retrain with a sword and shield to make sure the skills stick. You'll need to learn how to use your portal powers. Jonathon needs to learn to use their mutant powers. I think Warren just needs to double-check that his science and magic skills match up."

"And I need to learn how to be a ghost," Willow said sadly. Xander's eyes were bloodshot as he smiled weakly at his best friend.

"I have some thoughts on that, I'll get with you after I get the glamour for the kid taken care of," Warren groaned as he stood up. "For now I feel like I need to sleep for a week and rethink my life."

"You okay?" Xander asked carefully. He never really liked Warren – the boy was too close to becoming a full-blown misogynist. Add Dr. Doom's knowledge and personality, and Xander was worried about him becoming a future Big Bad.

"Looking at Doom's life through my own experiences and my life through Doom's... I don't like the person I've become. Doom could have been greater than Richards – but his ego got in the way. I don't want to go that route, to be that kind of person. I'll get what I need for the glamour spell and then I'll get with you next weekend about outfitting everyone," Warren said sadly.

"Mind if I catch a ride? I think if I tried to walk home right now I'd pass out on the sidewalk," Jonathon asked.

Warren just nodded and the two teens headed out the door. Xander carried Dawn to Joyce's car since the younger teen had fallen asleep. Willow followed along, not wanting to be apart from Xander at that moment. Giles slumped in his seat, feeling heart-broken that the girl he'd come to see as a surrogate daughter was dead and worried at what the Council's reaction would be.

* * *

Meers Residence

Sunday, November 2nd 1997

Warren sighed as he looked around his basement where he spent a lot of his free time tinkering with computers, robotics hobbyist kits, lego technic construction kits, and other engineering toys he had kept from his not-recently departed childhood. Warren had always been gifted when it came to being able to see solutions to mechanical and programming problems. Looking back on it all, he realized he was absolute crap when it came to interpersonal interactions.

Sighing again, he went over to his work table and found the plans for a robotic girlfriend he had been planning building laid out. "No. I will not go this way," he told himself. Packing the blueprints away in a tube, he tucked them into a corner with his other designs and spent some time cleaning up so he could work on drawing up plans and lists of materials for the armor and shield for Xander and Mrs. Summers.

Finding out that vampires and the like were real was a bit of a shock, but even more so was that magic was real. Thanks to popular science fiction, he could see how vampires and zombies could exist from a scientific point of view, and now thanks to Dr. Doom's knowledge of magic he could easily see how science and magic could be tied together.

It had taken Warren all of an hour to make the necklaces that would create glamours for the Summers ladies. All he had really needed was a photo and a bit of hair from before their changes. Not wanting to take the chance of something going wrong with the glamours, he'd layered on a spell that would cause people to ignore their presence as well as one that made so they couldn't be removed against the wearer's will. He'd dropped the necklaces off last night.

Shaking his head at his wandering thoughts, Warren finished up his designs so he could get a list of materials together – though really he needed more space and tools than he had room for. Thinking about Mrs. Summers little spiel about putting the dead girl's educational trust fund to good use, Warren wished his own parents had been so forward thinking. As it would have needed to take out student loans and vie for scholarships to fund his schooling. With Doom's knowledge Warren doubted he'd need to since Doom was knowledgeable in all fields.

"Well, _many _fields at least," he said to himself. "Wow Doom's ego is really leaking over."

Yeah, he could see getting a full-ride scholarship. While Sunnydale didn't really have much in the way of an engineering department – not like Dutton Tech College did. But Sunnydale was where he needed to be if he wanted to help keep the world spinning.

Leaning back in his chair Warren stared at the ceiling. He was confident he could max his ACT and SAT tests a year earlier than he was supposed to be taking them. A quick GED and he'd no longer be hampered by being a student in Snyder's demesne.

A smile slowly grew on his face. Doom would _hate_ having his knowledge and skills put to use for something as simple-minded as playing super-hero. And having seen enough movies and read enough comics, Warren knew the life of a Hero-with-a-capital-H wasn't an easy one – but he really felt it would be one worth living. Besides, everyone knew that Heroes eventually got the girl.

With that in mind, Warren grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and started drawing up plans for a suit of armor for himself. The technology didn't exist yet to pull a Tony Stark, but no one said he couldn't use magic instead.

* * *

Sunnydale High Library

Monday, November 3rd 1997

Xander looked around as he entered the library thirty minutes before the first bell was due to ring. The past few days had been hard on the teen – not only due to the death of his friends but also at home. His dad had noticed his new physique and all but accused him of using steroids. Combined with his increased appetite laying waste to the family refrigerator and things were... tense.

It was only only after catching a whiskey bottle thrown at his head and immediately throwing it back at his old man and knocking the drunk out that things had quieted down as even Tony Harris was able to realize that his son was not someone to be messed with. As it was, he was reminded that as soon as he finished high-school he'd have to find somewhere else to live. It had taken all of Xander's willpower not to beat his own father into a coma.

Sighing, Xander headed behind the desk to look for Giles. "Hey G-man, you in?"

"Honestly Xander, must you refer to me by that despicable title?" the Watcher asked in an exasperated tone. Giles was fully aware of why Xander acted the way he did, he just wasn't in the mood.

"I wanted to check up on you. Has Willow stopped by yet?" Xander asked softly.

"She has not – and I will be fine. I have been permanently tasked with keeping an eye on the Hellmouth, as well as on those who were affected by Halloween. I get the feeling that the Council is worried about the personalities involved – so do be careful. Also, I have been informed that a colleague of mine will be coming here with his Slayer – though oddly enough it would seem she had been activated last spring when the Master escaped his imprisonment."

Xander frowned at that for more than one reason. "Buffy's heart had stopped when she had been drowned... I managed to get her going again through CPR so that's probably why the new girl was chosen... but why didn't the council let you know?"

"I don't know. As it is, I get the feeling I'm not trusted given how... how close I've grown to you all. Normally a Watcher is recalled and put through counseling sessions when his slayer is killed. As it is, Samuel Zabuto is a good man and I trust him to report fairly on what goes on. I expect he'll welcome the assistance offered by you and your friends," Giles said as he cleaned his glasses. "How are you holding up?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hurting. Losing Jesse was bad enough, but at least I had Willow to lean on. Losing her on top of Buffy? I'm not in a happy place. If I ever see Ethan again, I'm going to make him hurt," Xander said coldly.

"And I'll be there right beside you. I've come to see you three as my children, and... I cannot begin to express how much I'm hurting," Giles offered as he put his hand on the teen's shoulder – giving him a squeeze.

"Thanks Giles, that means a lot to me," Xander said with a weak smile. Wanting to change the subject, Xander asked "So, when's the new girl getting here and what do we know about her?"

"Kendra and Samuel should be here by Friday. She's already taken down two master vampires as well as a necromancer that had raised a horde of zombies," Giles explained.

"All on her own? That's pretty impressive," Xander gave a nod of approval.

"Quite. She's not used to being part of a team, so you'll need to be patient and ease her into things. Hopefully she comes to see having help as being a good thing – especially given the sort of vampires and demons the hell-mouth attracts," Giles said calmly – happy to distract himself.

"Well, if she's not going to be here until Friday then that gives me plenty of time to get used to how strong I am. Anyway, I need to get to class, I'll catch you later Giles," Xander said, excusing himself.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Wow, as of me writing this X-Vengers has 2 favorites and 8 follows. Y'all are making me blush! As I stated in my profile, I'll post an update every other Saturday (though it will more realistically be late Friday Night). I have two other stories I've actually got more written on, though I'm not completely happy with them so I doubt they'll be added to the rota any time soon.

Chi Vayne: That's part of the reason I went with the idea is that I've never seen a fic where that happens. As for who else got to keep their costume abilities, I haven't planned on anyone other than those in this chapter though if my muse tells me otherwise that may change.

Author's Recommendation: Wind Shear by Chilord story ID 12511998


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated Characters are property of Joss Wedon and Mutant Enemy. All Marvel and DC Characters are property of their respective comic-book companies. I literally own nothing, not even this disclaimer.

Casting Notes: Samuel Zabuto is played by Idris Elba.

Chapter Two

LAX

Friday November 8th 1997

6:20 PM

Joyce patiently stood at the airport holding a poster-board sign with ZABUTO written on it, waiting for the new Watcher and his Slayer to arrive. Since Giles's cover required him to work at the school library, Joyce agreed to be the one to pick the newcomers up. Poor Giles was dealing with his girlfriend Jenny Calender moving back home due to a family emergency. As she stood there, she thought over the changes that had taken place that week.

Planning Buffy's funeral had been absolutely horrible. Especially since they had to plan around Willow's since Ira Rosenberg insisted on a traditional Jewish service rather than allow the two girls to be remembered together. As it was, tomorrow Joyce and Dawn would be joining Xander and Giles at the service. Warren and Jonathon hadn't spent much time around the redhead to justify attending, so they were going to be spending time with Willow keeping her calm since she didn't want to chance her parents seeing her at her own funeral.

Buffy's funeral would be the following weekend – which worked out better since Hank was in Japan on a business trip and wouldn't be back in the country until next Wednesday anyway. All of the preparations were taken care of, and once Hank had a chance to see his daughter she would be cremated so her ashes could be spread in the ocean.

"Joyce Summers, I presume?" a deep, cultured voice inquired, interrupting her thoughts. The man was dressed in a midnight Oxford suit and he had a single gold stud in his left ear. Standing with him was a teen girl with her hair pulled back, wearing a black leather jacket over an olive tank-top with brown leather pants and large golden hoop earrings.

"Mister Zabuto, and you must be Kendra. Rupert sends his apologies but he had an unavoidable staff meeting at the school. My car is this way, do you have any other luggage?" Joyce asked in a warm tone.

"Just our carry-on bags. The rest of our effects will be coming by UPS," Sam answered. "Do you know if the council established lodgings for us or will we be staying with Rupert for now?"

"For now you will be staying with Rupert, and Kendra can stay in my daughter's room. I think Warren, Willow, and Xander were looking at buying the old CRD complex and converting the offices into living space. There is a board room and plenty of room to set up a library so there will be a meeting place with a... threshold, I think it's called?" She answered – leading them out to her car.

"Threshold, yes. And it would probably be more secure than meeting in a school library where vampires could enter at will. I served in the Sport and Social, so I understand the need for having a secure base of operations," Sam replied.

"Sport and Social?" Joyce inquired.

"Special Air Service. Something like Green Berets or Navy Seals. And did not the... physical changes from the Halloween spell stick around? I was under the impression that you had changed to appear at most in your late twenties," he asked carefully.

"Warren came up with a glamour to hide the changes Dawn and I underwent," she told him. "Without it, my hair is raven black and I look twenty years younger. Physically I can lift and throw a car, as well as leap extreme distances and hover. I'm still getting the hang of that, though," Joyce said truthfully.

"And you are still planning on hunting vampires?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I don't want anyone else to go through what I have. Xander said it best – the more of us out on patrol, the more area we can cover, the more vampires can be taken down and the less victims there will be."

"Which is probably why the Council didn't order Kendra and us to the Hellmouth until after your daughter's death. My condolences, by the way. The vampire that killed her, Spike, killed two slayers before your daughter. The council was pleased that he was put down," Sam told her. "However, his sire Drucilla is still out there."

"Giles told us that. Xander and Willow have been looking for her nest but she seems to be hiding," Joyce replied, pulling onto the freeway.

"She is noted as being a seer, so she will be difficult to pin down. She's also known to be completely insane and unpredictable. It will be wise to be cautious," he warned.

"I understand," Joyce replied, her face glowing in the setting sun.

* * *

Abandoned Warehouse, Sunnydale California

8:30 PM

Drucilla pouted as she missed her Spike - almost as much as she missed her daddy. A stirring from the corner signaled that the silly boy who'd come to her to be turned was waking up. After feeding on him and giving little Billy Fordham some blood a few days ago, the mad seer had tucked his body into a corner of the warehouse so the nasty flag-boy and the amazon wouldn't stake him before he could lead her to the lost boys and girls who desperately needed a mommy.

That put a truly evil smile on the mad seeress's face as she decided she'd have to build a new family so she could really hurt the ones that took her family from her.

* * *

1630 Revello Drive

9:10 PM

Xander stood and stretched as the credits of _Ghostb__usters 2_ started to roll. Willow gave him a smile and stood up herself. She'd already figured out gravity didn't affect her, so she had been hovering in a lotus position about a foot above the couch while they had watched a movie marathon consisting of _Ghost, Ghost Dad, _and both _Ghostbusters films_ thanks to the advice of Warren and Jonathan.

And actually the movies had helped, as Willow had discovered that if she really focused she could pick things up or even push Xander hard enough he'd stumble – which given his improved physique was no mean feat!

"At least I can distract the bad guys without getting hurt," Willow had commented right before kissing Xander fully on the lips.

_I wish I'd had the courage to do that when I was still alive,_ she thought to herself as Xander went slightly bug-eyed before queuing up the next film. If she could she would have sighed. _And watching Xander when he sleeps isn't creepy at all. Too bad we can't find a necromancer or something._

With the last of the movies played, Xander cracked his neck a bit before nodding. "I'm heading out on patrol, you coming with?"

"Sure!" Willow said excitedly, unable to not stare at her crush's backside as he bent over to fetch his slay-kit (which consisted of a Holy Water filled super-soaker, a half-dozen wooden stakes, and a hand-carved cross he'd had blessed by Father Callahan down at St. Mary's).

"So, do you think Dawn's having fun at her sleepover with Kit?" Willow asked him as they headed out the door.

* * *

Outside Sunnydale High School

9:30 PM

Philip quickly paid the cab driver and got out – clutching his briefcase as he made his way to the building. Pausing to look around, he had to fight down a scream as the door he was heading towards suddenly opens – a school custodian pulling a cart of trashcans to take to the dumpster.

"Can I help you?" the aging Hispanic man asks cautiously, fingering the crucifix around his neck cautiously.

"Rupert Giles! I need to see him!" Phillip insisted.

"Mr. Giles? _Si_! He's our librarian. Next building over, first door on your left." The custodian offered. Phillip just nodded and rushed off without a word of thanks. The custodian just shook his head and sarcastically muttered "You're welcome, _jefe_."

Phillip ignored the man, too terrified of what he knew to be chasing him to worry about social niceties. He needed to warn Rupert! Hearing a twig snap behind him, he broke into a run – reaching the library doors only to find them locked.

"Rupert! Open the bloody door!" he begged, banging as hard as he could. Hearing a moan and shuffling from behind him, he spared a glance over his shoulder and saw a woman's animated corpse shuffling towards him.

"Deidre?" He almost whimpered.

"Phillip," the woman replied, her voice having a hollowness to it.

Phillip banged on the door harder, and once it was open practically bowled his friend Rupert over. "Phillip? What are you – Deidre? What's going on?"

"Close the door! That's not her it's The Sleep-Walker!" Phillip practically screamed.

Realizing what was happening, Giles gasped "Dear Lord!" and pulled the door shut just in time. Outside Deidre's possessed corpse began hammering on the door, as it couldn't pull the door open.

"You can't escape, none of you can," Eyghon promised.

"I need to make a phone call!" Giles muttered, trying not to panic. "Though something tells me we need to make sure all of the doors are locked first."

"Good idea, Rupert," Phillip said as he clutched his chest. The poor man could feel his heart hammering through his ribcage as he followed his old friend into backroom where the weapons cage was. Grabbing a mace for himself while Giles grabbed a morning star, the pair went around the building and locked up.

While the two Brits were locking up, Eyghon the Sleep-Walker staggered in the direction of another of the buildings – finding the janitor and bashing him over the head. The body the demon was inhabiting then melted into a puddle and slipped inside the old man – whose eyes popped open and a feral grin lit up his face.

* * *

Chi Vayne – Yes, yes, and you betcha.

ImaginitiveFury – In a nut shell, yes. Willow is going to have a rather important ability a little later but for the most part will be support.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated Characters are property of Joss Wedon and Mutant Enemy. All Marvel and DC Characters are property of their respective comic-book companies. Sybil Trelawny is property of Rowling and whoever she sold the rights to. Ettercaps and Driders (Even if only mentioned) are property of Wizards of the Coast last I checked. I literally own nothing, not even this disclaimer – I'm just throwing other peoples IP at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Quick Note: Parts of this chapter are taken directly from The Dark Ages (2.08) and will be marked in bold.

Chapter Three

Meers Residence

Friday November 8th 1997

9:40 PM

"So what exactly is that?" Jonathan asked as he watched Warren working on a complicated apparatus made from parts of an aquarium system and an old fishing reel he'd picked up at the second-hand shop – though there was an empty sewing-thread spool inside the heart of the device rather than the usual fishing line spool.

"One of Doom's inventions was a polymer chain made from mixing two chemicals and then extracting the threads from where the two chemicals meet – kinda like making nylon thread. If the physics are the same in our universe as the Marvel one, then it should have ten-times the tensile strength of steel. This device is so I can mix the parts in a controlled fashion and wind the polymer thread onto a spool. Then I'll build a device that will weave the threads together to make the basis for everyone's armor," Warren explained as he finished the last screw.

"I've already done the chem-work in the school science lab after hours, so all that I need to do is connect the bottles, turn it on, start extracting the thread and winding it," he added a moment later before going and getting a pair of 2-liter bottles – one filled with a grayish looking fluid and the other a midnight blue.

Using a series of clamps he attached the bottles to the device and turned it on. Slowly a thread started to emerge from a small nozzle and once there were a few feet of it, Warren took then end and hooked the resulting thread into the spool and turning on the small motor that slowly wound the thread onto the spool. Fiddling with the knobs controlling the motors for both the liquid pumps and the spool, he managed to get the spool to wind at the same speed as the thread was being produced.

"There. If my math is right, then in about twenty minutes I'll need to change spools. I programmed the motor to automatically shut off after the first spool is full," Warren said before standing up and stretching.

"So what else is the armor going to consist of?" Jonathan asked curiously.

Warren had a smug smile on his face. "After a few specific questions and some research, I found out there is a species of intelligent spider-demons who's silk is not only as strong as steel, but also highly resistant to magic."

"Like Ettercaps from D&D?" Jonathan replied.

"More like Driders, based on the drawings. Anyway, they are actually pretty common and based on what I've been able to find, there is a whole colony of them in South Africa. Once I make some magically enhanced communication devices, I was going to ask Dawn to gate me down to South Africa so I could make contact and arrange a deal. Even though they are carnivores, they apparently are also merchants and known to trade their silk," Warren explained.

"Just as long as you aren't putting her in danger... Mrs. Summers might be way stronger than Xander but he's downright scary. I overheard him talking to Giles about what he had planned for that Ethan guy," Jonathan said with a shiver. "Anyway, you think she'll be able to do it – or be able to extract you in case you get into trouble?"

"I found out when I delivered the glamours that Dawn kept all of Blink's memories – including how to use her powers. I did have to use a lethe's bramble to help suppress the... less pleasant memories. Blink did grow up during the Age of Apocalypse story-arc, after all."

"Man, poor kid," Jonathan whistled. "I didn't keep much of anything from Cable except his powers. I'm still trying to figure them out."

"You know, without that techno-organic virus to hold at bay, I'd wager you'll have a lot more power at your disposal. You could probably go toe-to-toe with Mrs. Summers if not win," Warren said idly before dismissing that line of thought with a hand wave. "Not that I'd expect it to come to that."

"Anyway," he continued. "Thanks to Doom's memories, I know a spell that will essentially give you back Cable's memories – though the materials are a bit expensive. Can you scrape up a hundred bucks?"

"Yeah, and that'd be cool," Jonathan said with a smile. "Anyway, what else have you been working on?"

"A few anti-vampire weapons for large crowds of them – though I'll need... test subjects since I'm not sure if they'd actually work," Warren admitted. "Mostly things like ultra-violet flash-bangs, holy-water based tear-gas, things like that."

"Huh," Jonathan grunted, a small smile growing on his face. "I guess once we get you a lab space set up we'll need to capture a few vamps. Can you make up something like Spiderman's web-shooter?"

"I was going to go with a taser rifle, actually. The parts to build it are more easily obtained," Warren answered. "It'd be easier to build a grapple-gun than a web-shooter if that's what you were thinking – though you'd risk dislocating your shoulder using it unless it was built into a full-body suit of armor."

"Well, it's not like you've started making the armor yet," Jonathan pointed out."

"True. I'll think on it."

* * *

Somewhere between Sunnydale and LAX

9:45 PM

Sam Zabuto was deeply troubled. Part of his orders from the Council was to appraise the vulnerabilities of the woman sitting just to his left (as well as that of the others affected by Ethan Rayne's spell) as well as determine if they were a threat to the council. He knew that his ultimate boss, Quentin Travers was a hard-core traditionalist and would most likely seek to kill everyone involved.

But then a friend of Sam's who was on the council had been warned by a seer friend of hers (some bint named Sybil Trelawny) to "Beware the Nighthawk Prophecy and those too caught up in the past." The Nighthawk Prophecy was given some sixty years ago by another noted seer and warned about the End of Days. There weren't too many copies of it, but thankfully Sam's grandfather had been present when it was given and it was in his journal.

_Beware the End of Days and the Final Battles' approach._

_The Jester shall inherit the power of the First Avenger before becoming the Nighthawk on the same night the Slayer as shall rise to Nobility and die at the hands of the Horrid Bard in the presence of a Dark Angel._

_Those who keep watch over Sineya's Legacy must seek out the Nighthawk and ally with him, for he will have a hand in fighting the last seven apocalypses._

_Those who cling too tightly to tradition for tradition's sake shall hasten the return of the old ones._

_Beware the End of Days and the Final Battles' approach._

Based on what he'd been told, the Slayer Buffy Summers had dressed as a noblewoman and was killed by the vampire Spike – who was known as William the Bloody (awful poet). The ensouled vampire Angel was present at her death. And finally, Xander Harris often acted as comedic relief around his friends, probably to help preserve their sanity by acting the fool – or in this case, the jester – which Sam could understand as even when he was in the SAS there were younger members of the teams who would do the same thing. Captain America was considered the First Avenger... though the part about becoming the Nighthawk he just couldn't figure out.

_And given Travers's orders? I don't like it one bit. But hopefully the moderates and progressives will be able to take control of the council given the warnings of the prophecy,_ he told himself. Just based on the little interaction he'd had with Mrs. Summers, Sam found himself liking the woman and was definitely not wanting to have to take part in killing the woman. His musings were interrupted by the car phone Joyce had in the car ringing.

"Press the speaker button, would you?" Joyce asked politely.

* * *

Sunnydale High School Library

10:00 PM

Having finished locking down the Library, Giles grabbed the phone in his office and tried calling the Summer's residence since he knew Xander had been spending a lot of his time over there rather than at home following Willow's death. When it went to the answering machine, he sighed and waited for the beep.

"If anyone is there we are having a bit of a situation here at the Library. We've locked ourselves in but I don't know how long the doors will keep the demon out," Giles said worriedly. "My friend Phillip and I will hold the fort as best we can but please hurry!"

Hanging up, he tried Joyce's car-phone – even though he knew that the chances of them being back before eleven were non-existent – especially if they had stopped to eat. Joyce's voice answered. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Summers, this is Rupert. We've got a bit of a problem here. A demon called Eyghon the Sleep-walker has an old acquaintance and myself trapped in the library. I haven't been able to reach Xander at your house and I don't know how much help Mr. Meers or Mr. Levinson can provide at this time."

"Rupert, we're still thirty minutes from Sunnydale. Thankfully traffic is light. We'll be there as quickly as we can. You are on speaker so you can fill us in on what we need to know," Joyce explained.

"Sam, as you are aware, I had a bit of a rebellious phase in my youth. **I was twenty-one, studying history at Oxford. And, of course, ****the occult by night. I hated it. The tedious grind of study, the... overwhelming pressure of my destiny. I dropped out, I went to London... (exhales) I fell in with the worst crowd that would have me. We practiced magicks. Small stuff for pleasure or gain. And Ethan and I discovered something... bigger."**

"Eyghon, I presume?" Sam replied. "Oh Rupert..."

Giles was nervously pouring a drink from a stashed bottle of whiskey for himself and Phillip. **"Yes. One of us would, um... go into a deep sleep, and the others would, uh, summon him. It was an extraordinary high!" **he smiled nervously. **"God, we were fools."**

Phillip was visible shaking as he sipped his whiskey, and Giles was just staring at his. Joyce spoke up right as he was finally taking a drink. "You lost control, didn't you?"

**"One of us, Randall, he lost control Eyghon took him whole. We tried to exorcise the demon, but it killed him. We killed him. We thought we were free of the demon after that. But he's back and one by one he will kill us all,"** Giles said morosely. "Fitting I suppose, that I won't outlive my Slayer by more than a week."

"How did it even find you?" Joyce asked.

"We have... tattoos. The Mark of Eyghon. He can find us wherever we go with them. The ones of us left are Phillip, myself...and Ethan Rayne," Giles explained.

"If he can't get to you two, will he go after Rayne?" Joyce asked coldly. She still wanted her pound of flesh for what that bastard did to her daughter.

* * *

Sunnydale Motor Lodge

10:00 PM

Eyghon grinned as he followed the pulse of his mark on Ethan's tatoo. The demon's former follower was definitely in the cheap motel. And the best part was that the Sleep-walker couldn't feel any other people around that were awake – so even if Ethan was clever enough to have a gun on hand to kill the demon's current host, there were plenty of others to jump into.

Approaching the door and giving it a swift kick, Eyghon surveyed the room and frowned. The nude, drugged out girl on the bed was most certainly NOT Ethan Rayne – yet there was his mark tattooed on the back of the girl's neck. What's more, was that the demon could only feel three active marks.

"No matter," the demon said in a thick Hispanic accent. Given that Rupert and Phillip were obviously still in contact it wouldn't be difficult to track his wayward acolyte down. Since a marked follower would make a better host than one who was unmarked (not to mention the girl couldn't possibly be older than sixteen so she'd be in even better physical shape) Eyghon abandoned ship and let the old custodian slump to the floor even as he entered the passed-out girl's body.

Sitting up and checking herself for any injuries, Eyghon could only smile as she felt the euphoric rush showing the increase in power from possessing someone bearing her mark. Already her new body was taking the proper shape – showing that she was in fact a demonic entity. Normally demonification of the host body took days to complete, but with the body of a marked follower? Mere minutes assuming the host was in a deep enough sleep.

Technically Eyghon no longer needed Rupert, Phillip, or even Ethan. But there were debts to settle and betrayals to payback. And oh how she would make them pay.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Okay, so I forgot to leave a Story Recommendation for the last chapter (silly me!), so instead I'll be leaving two in this chapter:

A Most Marvelous Adventure by KColl2003 (Story ID: 4922529)

Vengence? No! Avenger! by Deadlandmarshal (Story ID: 11515212)

And as always, please don't forget to leave a review!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated Characters are property of Joss Wedon and Mutant Enemy. Charmed is property of Spelling Television and Paramount. Supernatural belongs to CW. All Marvel, DC, and Image Comics Characters are property of their respective comic-book companies. I literally own nothing, not even this disclaimer – I'm just throwing other peoples IP at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Chapter 4

A higher plane of existence

Jasmine sighed as she reviewed the terms of the treaty agreed upon by the Powers that Be and the various demonic factions over what was being referred to as 'The Halloween Incident.' It had taken years in a time-compression chamber to hammer out that deal, and while Jasmine was satisfied that her plans for The Mother and the Grandfather could be salvaged, concessions had to be made.

The biggest concession was that for each person who kept their powers, each of the thirteen factions got an equal champion. The worst was that Malebolgia got a Hell Spawn to counter Joyce Summers. Though fortunately for Jasmine's plans, Mammon had provided a list of Master-level vampires to act as his chosen champions – which included Angelus. The downside to that was The Ram demanding he be given immunity to the Gypsy Soul Curse for a Year and a Day.

"But there are ways around that," she said to herself. She'd already had Skip abduct Angelus shortly after he had appeared on the streets of Sunnydale the night after Halloween and take the Vampire to a Hell-Dimension where time flowed faster. By the Winter Solstice, the Soul Curse would be able to take effect. She'd already inspired Janna of the Kalderesh to research the Soul Curse so it could be cast.

Another Problem though was that Lilith had demanded access for Crossroads Demons - and while that would piss of D'Hoffryn something fierce, it did prove to be a problem as that would lead to even more souls being lost. And Malebolgia was up to something - he hadn't forced a concession allowing Hellspawn since Sir John of England eight centuries ago. And the Triad was up to something as well.

* * *

The Prison of the First Evil

The First was literally bouncing off of the walls of its prison as it raged and screamed during its week-long temper-tantrum. Without the Slayer line being split the First was fully trapped. What was worse, was that the witch needed for its plans of activating every potential to completely undo the Seal had died on the same night!

_At least Caleb is creating my Bringers, _it thought as it calmed down after feeling the pain of bashing its metaphysical head against the walls of its prison sunk in. _Enough Bringers and I won't _need_the stress caused by the existence of multiple Slayers being active to spread my influence._

Thanks to its own foresight, the First had empowered Caleb as much as it could get away with without the Powers that Be taking notice. That would allow Caleb the ability to show his power – allowing the fallen priest to recruit more followers. "Focus on Satanists and pagans who follow darker gods," he had instructed his lieutenant.

Giving the equivalent of a sigh, The First had to admit that time was on its side. While it would love to be free immediately, adding a decade or two wouldn't matter much now that it had a devout follower in Caleb. Besides, it had gleamed enough from the minds of the fallen to know that with Harris staying in the fight, the chances of another split in the Slayer line was likely.

* * *

Sunnydale Cemetery

Friday November 8th, 1997

10 PM

"Xander behind you!" Willow yelled, even as she focused her fear and anger at knocking a fledgling vampire on his butt. Xander performed a should roll John Wu would be proud of, scooping up the super-soaker that had been knocked out of his hands and blasting the vamp in the face and mouth – incapacitating it.

Pulling a stake even as he kicked another vamp right in the balls he dusted first that vamp, then the one he sprayed with the holy-water-filled toy. "Thanks, Wills!" he said with an easy grin before tossing his oldest (and now ghostliest) friend his stake so she could finish off the last one. Judging by the smile on Willow's face, Xander was willing to bet that she was enjoying herself just a smidgen since she couldn't be hurt.

This was the third group of fledglings they'd run across tonight. Apparently the vamps had been on a recruitment drive since word had gotten out that the Slayer had died. Xander had spent the past week getting used to his improved physique as well as getting used to Captain America's fighting style.

While Xander hadn't retained any of the emotional context of Steve Rodgers's life, he remembered everything else as if he'd lived it. Every fight, every conversation, it was as if Xander had been a passenger in Steve's body while the man lived his life. It was... an experience to say the least.

_At least I kept Cap's muscle memory, even if he wasn't used to fighting vampires,_ Xander thought to himself. Luckily his own hard-earned skills fighting the undead blended pretty well with what he got from the first Avenger – but ye gods did he wish he had a shield! Still, Steve Rodgers had been a master of Akido, boxing, Judo, Karate, Kickboxing, as well as gymnastics. What's more, was Cap had blended those skills seamlessly into his own fighting style and Xander was capitalizing it.

"You move almost like Buffy, but more... professional?" Willow had commented after the second of the three groups they'd run across. Which made sense since the Slayer fought on pure instinct whereas Captain America had trained.

"So, make a quick appearance at the Bronze before checking in with G-man?" Xander suggested.

"Sounds good. Do you think Buffy's mom is back from picking up Mr. Zabuto and Kendra?" Willow asked.

"Dunno. Could be. I wonder what she's like, given that she was trained to be a Slayer since she was a kid?" Xander wondered aloud as they headed for the only club in town that they had access to.

The two friends debated whether or not Kendra would be more effective than Buffy, with Xander arguing that Buffy had a support group to draw on while Willow argued that Kendra had been basically raised to be a Slayer. They both agreed it was a little wigsome that the Council apparently went out of its way to acquire and train potentials – cutting them off from most human interaction.

"Really, if you don't have something to fight for, it's going to make you not survive very long," Xander pointed out. "I think that more than anything is what kept Buffy going."

"Wow, Xander, that's really insightful," Willow commented.

"I'm wounded you sound so surprised!" he said as he clutched his heart like he'd been stabbed. "Wounded!"

"Not yet you ain't," a voice said from the alley they'd just passed. "But let's see if I can fix that."

Turning, they spotted a quartet of vampires. Two were guys in regular clothes – if they were living in the 80's, one was a woman in bell-bottoms, and the last was wearing a tracksuit. Xander gave Willow a quick smile before bringing up his super-soaker and pulling the trigger, turning it back and forth so he got the four vamps in their eyes. Meanwhile, Willow pulled a stake from Xander's pocket and went for the woman – ducking her blind flailing and dusting her.

Pulling his own stake, Xander took out Tracksuit even as Willow went for one of the 80's rejects – though she missed his heart as he had turned and made a mad-dash for the alley. The other reject was already running.

"How much you wanna bet they left a manhole cover open and will be in the sewers before we can reach them?" Xander asked.

Willow just shook her head. "No bet. Let's just go scope the Bronze real quick and check in with Giles."

The Bronze itself was quiet – especially given that it was nearly closing time. Thankfully there didn't appear to be any vampires in attendance or even stalking the alleyways nearby – Xander had scouted inside while Willow had scoped the alleyways. That done, the two friends made their way to the school just in time to see a rather scary looking female demon ripping the doors off of the library.

"Oh for crying – come on!" Xander said as he ran inside after the demon, Willow hot on his heels.

* * *

Just outside the Sunnydale Library

10:30 PM

Eyghon grinned as she approached the Library. Since it had been a bit of a walk to get there from the cheap motel she'd gotten her current host from, she had taken the time to go through the girl's memories.

The girl was truly a lost child, changing her name at the drop of a hat. Joan Appleby had gotten involved with a cult when she was thirteen and was renamed Sister Sunshine. After the cult's leader had been arrested for abusing the girls he had lured in, she reinvented herself as Chantarelle and was a vampire groupie of all things. The foolish girl actually thought vampires were romantic and lonely souls just like her!

And apparently there was a club full of those fools, and 'Chantarelle' was supposed to be meeting her friends there when she had been drugged by Ethan Rayne. From there Eyghon could only guess what had happened – Ethan most likely created a new mark on the girl mixing his own blood in with the ink he used to make the tattoo. Even the most basic of obscuring spells would have kept Eyghon from noticing the 'transfer.'

_Such a clever little mage. It'll be so much fun making his head burst like a pimple,_ Eyghon thought to herself. _But to do that I need Rupert and Phillip in one piece._

Feeling her own power was limited by the fact that her host had been drugged, Eyghon regretted that she didn't have time to go on a recruitment drive. A physically stronger and willing host along with a large number of _loyal_ marked followers would have provided the demon with the strength of a dozen men. As it was, she _might_ be able to take on a master-level vampire and win.

Not that she'd need that level of strength once she dealt with those traitors. After all, it wasn't like there was a Slayer presently on the hellmouth – which was awfully irresponsible of the Watcher's Council now that she thought about it. That actually brought the demon up short and she paused and cocked her head in thought.

"Either their Slayer is dead and the new on is on the way, or she's been sent off of the hellmouth," Eyghon finally decided before continuing her walk. Grinning as she reached the library she didn't bother with opening the door normally – she just grabbed and pulled, ripping the whole door free of its frame and tossing it aside.

Completely disregarding the teenage boy and his ghostly companion running straight at her, Eyghon entered the library and smiled as she set her eyes on her two traitorous acolytes. "Hello boys, did you miss me? I so missed you."

* * *

Author's Notes:

I know, Cliffhangers are just a little bit evil. Sue me.

Eyghon is the gender of whomever it is possessing. So since its current host is a woman, Eyghon is referred to with feminine pronouns. Since Ethan Rayne knows his plan to get Buffy killed was successful, he chooses are random victim to move his tattoo to. I'm honestly surprised no one tried to guess who it was.

Yes there is a future Spawn crossover coming up. But first, Angelus will be showing up as well.

Story Recommendation (for you few folk who've not already read it): Xanderhog Day by tohonomike (Story ID: 2077071)

And as always, please don't forget to leave a review!


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer – Other people's IP are borrowed – I own nothing. NOTHING!

Reminder: The part of Samuel Zabuto is played by Idris Elba.

Chapter 5

Sunnydale High School Library

Friday November 8th, 1997

10:31 PM

Xander wondered what was up with this demon, as well as who the strange Brit-looking guy with Giles was. _Is that Kendra's Watcher? I didn't think they would be back from LA so soon. I was also expecting someone with a last name like Zabuto to be black... and where's Kendra?_

Xander dismissed his thoughts and brought up his super-soaker and proceeded to hose the demon from behind – which had little effect other than some slight blistering and a hissing sound.

"How rude," the clearly female demon said in an annoyed tone. "And Holy Water really only works on vampires and lower-level demons, little hunter. Not that you'll live long to learn as I'll be killing you after I deal with Rupert and Phillip."

Completely ignoring the scowling teen – who just tossed his water gun to the side and pulled a crossbow from his duffle bag – the demon turned her back on him and stalked up to the two Englishmen.

Giles looked at Xander drawing the crossbow and warned him "Eyghon is a possession-class demon – it's inside an innocent girl!"

"Crap," he swore as he dropped the weapon and tackled the demon from behind – causing her to growl in frustration.

"Little boy, you watch too much television," the demon – who was apparently named Eyghon – said as she stood up and decked the enhanced teen.

"I'm okay, nothing hurt but my pride," he said as he picked himself off of the floor. This demon was definitely stronger than the fledglings he and Willow had taken on earlier that night.

"You clearly are stronger than I thought since that punch should have taken your head off," Eyghon said approvingly. "Pity I lack the time to force my mark upon you – you'd make an excellent host."

"Would that make me the host with the most?" Xander quipped as he charged the demon, feinting with a punch before kicking it.

"How droll," Eyghon said before throwing another punch – which Xander ducked under before getting a one-two hit combination on the demon's flank. "Hold still so I can kill you!"

"Giles, ideas?"

"If you can find a way to restrain her, we can try a de-possession spell," Giles said as he went to the weapon's cage and grabbed some shackles and chains.

"Rupert, the last time we tried that, the host died!" Phillip said worriedly – clearly thinking about Randall.

"Well we're all out of corpses, Phillip!" Giles answered.

While the odd-couple argued, Xander found he was barely able to hold his own against the demon. "Guys!" he said as he took another hit and found himself introduced to the wall. "Less bickering and more solution-ing!"

Xander briefly wondered where Willow was up until he saw his ghostly friend with a murderous look on her face – and a mace in her hand. Grinning, Xander kept the demon focused on him and sure enough, with a loud thud he could feel in his bones Willow brought the weapon down on Eyghon's head.

"Nighty-night, Iggy," Xander said with a grin as the demon staggered slightly. Xander then grabbed the demon and threw her against the wall – only for the demon to recover and back-hand him. Unfortunately Willow was standing in his path so he caught a face full of mace.

"Owww..." he groaned even as he felt the demon's hand around this throat. He could see Willow was doing her best to wail on the demon's back with the mace, but the demon just ignored it. He was only faintly aware of the sounds of tires screeching outside and car doors slamming even as he heard an almost angelic voice say.

"Get away from him you bitch!"

* * *

Joyce's Car – a few minutes earlier

"Dear god, Eyghon's here!" she heard Rupert say on the phone followed by what she assumed was the demon's voice calling out "Hello boys, did you miss me? I so missed you."

"Rupert we're almost there!" she said frantically as she pressed the gas pedal to the floorboard. Joyce knew she was speeding, but since the night-duty cops spent all of their time at the donut shop she wasn't horribly worried about getting pulled over.

She could hear the sounds of fighting over her car's cellphone and she made a hard right into the parking lot. Seeing the library door had been ripped out of its frame, she got as close as she dared before slamming on the brakes. Kendra and Sam were already unbuckling their seatbelts and they quickly exited the car.

Seeing the demon choking the boy she'd come to see as somewhat of a surrogate son, she unknowingly quoted one of Xander's favorite movies.

"Get away from him you bitch!"

Amazon instincts at full throttle, she charged the demon and delivered a kick to her side that she swore she heard ribs breaking even as the demon was lifted up and away – and straight into the stacks on the second level, toppling (and shattering) several shelves.

With a powerful leap, Joyce leapt up onto the second level – leaving Kendra and Samuel in shock – grabbed the demon by her hair and picked her up only to punch her and send her flying back into the wall.

"Mrs. Summers!" Xander protested as he climbed unsteadily to his feet. "There's an innocent girl in there!"

Reminded of the fact, Joyce gave him a firm nod before rushing forward and wrestling the stunned demon to the ground – planting her foot in the demon's lower back even as she held Eyghon's wrists in a death-grip.

Giles and Phillip brought the metal restraints up the stairs to the stacks and with Mrs. Summers's help managed to restrain Eyghon.

* * *

Xander's POV

"Now what do we do?" Xander asked - normally things were black and white. See demon, kill demon. Unfortunately an innocent (or so he gathered) was involved. "You said the last time this thing got lose the host died? And what's the what?"

"You need to tell Xander and Willow exactly what happened, Rupert," Joyce said in a dangerous tone.

_That can't be good,_ he told himself. Realizing that potentially sensitive information was about to get discussed, Xander quickly came up with a plan.

"One sec, don't want her listening in on our plans," Xander said as he dragged Eyghon over to the listening library and put some sound-dampening headphones over it's ears and popped in Wagner's _Flight of the Valkyries_ – setting the volume to maximum. "Alright, we got ten minutes. Hopefully that doesn't ruin her hearing."

Sighing and sitting down hard the librarian told his two students everything. Phillip didn't say anything, but merely poured his old friend another shot of whiskey. Xander was dumbfounded. _Who knew G-Man was such a hell-raiser when he was younger? I didn't think he had it in him...  
_

"Rupert, Ethan, and myself are all that remains. But I would guess Ethan kidnapped this girl and somehow moved his mark to her. Eyghon was in a corpse earlier tonight. Demonification wouldn't have happened so quickly unless the current host is marked like us."

"Will Eyghon stay in the host on it's own, or will it jump into someone else?" Willow asked in a tone that told Xander his best friend had gears turning in her head.

Xander piped up. "Can we go grab a couple of corpses from the morgue and move your tattoos over?

"I-If there is a dead body or another sleeper nearby, it will jump since it is restrained. But dead bodies don't last very long before, er, they liquefy," Giles said. "And the tattoo must be anchored to a living being – and I have no idea how Ethan moved his without being found out."

"Obviously we can't just use a dead body, since **that won't kill the demon, only give it a change of scenery**," Willow said – making Xander sag a bit.

"**Oh! Oh Oh Oh! I got it!**" Willow said excitedly.

"Hey guys, I think she's got it," Xander said with a grin. "What's your plan, Wills?"

Willow quickly told them, and Joyce could see Xander's grin growing wider. Joyce saw Kendra and Samuel nodding in appreciation of the girl's brilliance.

"Right," Xander said as he stood – handing Joyce the mace. "Kendra and I will go bag a blood sucker and bring it back here. Joyce will keep an eye on Iggy. And team Tea and Crumpets can get the research party going just in case we need a Plan C – after they borrow some acid from the chem-lab to get rid of those tacky tats."

"What are plans A and B?" Willow asked curiously.

"Plan A is grabbing a vamp, B is raiding the morgue, stealing a boat, and dumping Iggy in the middle of the ocean with some concrete shoes," he explained as he and Kendra headed for the door.

* * *

Samuel looked at Giles with a grin. "Boy's clever. I'd never have thought of dumping a possessed corpse in the ocean."

"It would be nice if she showed some of those smarts with his school work," Willow fumed.

"Not everyone is cut out for academics. Now, if you'd care to show me where the chemistry lab is, I'll go get some hydrochloric acid so those tattoos can be removed," he offered.

"This way, Mister Zabuto," Willow said as she headed for the another set of doors, the dark-skinned watcher following her.

"I suppose we should start looking for a Plan C, then?" Phillip said with an rueful smile.

"Y-yes, quite."

* * *

AN: Talk about a chapter that didn't want to be written. I hope the action is good enough for you all. I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with this chapter, and wish I could make it longer but it really seemed like a natural place to end the chapter. The past couple weeks have been hella busy, what with the Gender Reveal party (We're having a girl! My son is super-excited), getting the house ready for the baby, and my work schedule going back up to five days a week. It doesn't help that I've got two other fics competing for my attention: A Harry Potter Multi-cross and a StarCraft2/Stargate SG-1 cross.

Author's Recommendation for this chapter is Childhood's End by Starway Man (Story ID: 9758177)


End file.
